Miley Cyrus NBC special leads to FCC investigation

She came in like a wreckingball... and may have earned NBC a reprimand from the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) .

The FCC announced on August 7 that it is investigating whether singer Miley Cyrus violated indecency and profanity rules during her Miley Cyrus: Bangerz Tour concert special in early July. If she is found to have done so, NBC, the station that broadcasted the special, could be on the hook for thousands in fines.

While on stage, Miley toned down her act from her normal concert antics, but her actions were still enough to draw consumer complaints. Among other things, Miley danced proactively with a performer dressed as Abraham Lincoln, wore a skin-tight unitard on stage, and dressed one backup dancer as a marijuana joint.

The FCC told Rolling Stone that it has received four official complaints on the matter. One complaint said, “This was jokingly rated as PG-13/TV-14 and that simply cannot be correct. Miley Cyrus these days needs to be rated either MA or XXX, and nothing of hers should now or ever be aired during any time prior to 12:00 am in whatever time zone her smut is scheduled to air.”

Another complaint took issue with the Lincoln costume, saying, “[S]he was dressed more in line with a video geared towards MTV, her performance was impropriate for broadcast tv, as she grinded along there was a costumed performer depicting President Lincoln following behind her and alongside her and the character acted quite lecherous even patting her on the backside. Very patriotic for the 4th ya think?”

However, according to Fox News, NBC may have been prepared for the complaints and fines all along. When juxtaposed with Cyrus’s recent public image — which includes nudity in her “Wreckingball” video and grinding with Robin Thicke on stage at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards — the concert seems almost tame.

“NBC put Miley on knowing full well it would generate controversy,” said Dan Gainor, vice president of business & culture at the Media Research Center, told Fox News. “Unless the fine is several million dollars, they will view it as a cost of doing business as a ‘hip’ network.”

Assistant Editor

Zach Warren

Zach Warren is Assistant Editor of InsideCounsel magazine, where he oversees online content submissions and administers InsideCounsel's enewsletters. Zach specializes in new media and multimedia...